Veladero Gold explores and strengthens its partnership with the community
SAN JUAN, Argentina – The Veladero gold mine has reached its 17th anniversary since first gold in October 2005 and the company remains committed to improving the asset, building on strong partnerships with the local community, and exploring to increase its resources.
At a media briefing here today, Barrick president and chief executive Mark Bristow said recent integrated work from the exploration team in the Veladero district has identified four high interest targets that will be tested with drilling campaigns starting in October 2022.
Also, to continue developing an open partnership with local communities, Veladero will launch four new Community Development Committees (CDC) in the departments of Iglesia and Jáchal, bringing the total to six, and increasing the frequency of participatory environmental monitoring. The role of the CDC is to allocate the community investment budget to projects prioritized by local stakeholders, with each committee made up of a mix of local leaders and a variety of community members.
“We call San Juan our home and since 2019 we have significantly improved our relations with all stakeholders based on our DNA of open and transparent communication. I’m thrilled to see this commitment expand with the installation of new Community Development Committees in our neighboring communities of Iglesia and Jáchal”, Bristow said.
Another important initiative is to enhance environmental participatory monitoring. The first activity took place at the start of October when water quality samples were collected at Veladero’s Compliance Point by community members and analyzed at a certified laboratory. Over the next six months, monitoring will occur monthly and then quarterly, significantly increasing participation from the current annual frequency.
In terms of value creation, the participation of local community suppliers reached US$ 22 million in goods and services supplied to the mine in the last 12 months. This development process has generated new opportunities such as earthworks, construction, manufacturing of grinding balls, glass cutting, hardware, mining road maintenance, and cargo transportation among others. At the same time, the company has developed an incubation program for non-mining related small businesses, which has produced about 60 initiatives in the last three years.
We are exploring in the San Juan province and across the country, and at the same time, we have raised concerns about the mining industry’s viability. At Veladero we have observed how the current financial situation in Argentina, with currency restrictions, inflation, and taxation, combines with the global financial crisis to create risks for the mine plan. As partners we urgently need to work together for a sustainable long-term future, Bristow said.
